The girl who was forcefully removed from her chair by a police officer in South Carolina has had a crowdfunding page started on her behalf, which has raised $45,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.
The girl, who has only been identified as Shakara, had a page created for her on GoFundMe by her attorney to help pay for her legal and medical expenses.
The officer, Ben Fields, a resource officer at Spring Valley High School, was dismissed from his position after multiple videos of the altercation went viral on the Internet last week. He picked up the student after multiple school employees asked her to leave the classroom.
Fields was called upon by school officials to ask her to leave the classroom. When she refused, he attempted to pull her out of her chair, causing her desk to go flying during a scuffle between the cop and student. The girl was arrested by Fields.
The student’s attorney, Todd Rutherford, told the Associated Press last week that the girl went to the hospital and has a cast on her arm and has complained of neck, back and psychological injuries.
“The funds raised will be put towards medical costs, educational expenses, and any other expenses she has to endure,” Rutherford said on the student’s crowd-funding page.
A second crowd-funding page was setup for Niya Kenny, one of the students who filmed Fields’ altercation with the student.
Both students were charged with disturbing schools, and were released to their parents according to the Associated Press.
Kenny’s crowdfunding page has raised more than $3,600 so far.
Justin Boggs is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @jjboggs.
